In Italian families, the role of women has always been one of fundamental importance. Women were able to create wonderful meals with humble ingredients, but as talented as they might have been, their place was in the home, running the family, not travelling abroad learning haute cuisine.

A buttero is an Italian working cowboy from the Maremma part of Tuscany. And one was just found—morto (dead)!

Marika shows us her apartment's master bedroom.

The Dixieland airborne emergency squad rescues a comet and Dixi receives a wonderful ride through the sky as thanks.

Marchesi talks about how much he learned from just being around great chefs who happened to be relatives, but also how much he learned from books. There are also some interesting opinions about why most great chefs are male!

You won't want to miss this lesson, where Daniela introduces direct object pronouns, as in: I buy the book - I buy it.

Things don't add up regarding the buttero, and Brigadiere, Lara's aunt's dog, has gone missing.

To reach a goal, you need to know how to deal with adversity. To walk on without fear. That's one thing you learn at Enzo's gym.

Milan, as it became an important center for gastronomy and publishing, relinquished, at the same time, part of its regional identity.

Lara is in quite a quandary about the roses. She's got some tough decisions to make! Meanwhile Toscani and Manara get up to speed on the investigation.

Marika gives us a tour of her living room, where the family is entertained, and where she has lunch and dinner parties for guests.

Dixi goes to a party to celebrate spring, where his hungry little tummy gets plenty of attention. In Italian, a hungry tummy growls, using the verb "brontolare." Both a "growl" and a "brontolio" are onomatopoeic.

Francesco De Gregori's inspiration for La donna cannone [The Cannonball Lady] came from a newspaper article about a circus performer who quit the circus for love.

Anna and Marika finish explaining the tenses of the verb "avere" (to have). They give examples of present and past participles, present and past gerunds, as well as the simple future and future perfect.

Daniela concludes this very important lesson about direct object pronouns. This time she explains about the feminine singular, and the plurals of both genders: Did you eat the apples? Yes, I ate them.